Improvement in car-couplings



CAR-COUPLING. No.187,102. Patented Feb. 6, 1877.

J. c. COPE,

CAR-COUPLING.

2 sheets-$11861 2.

Patented Fb.6,18'77.

7517mm: as

Jim/0:607."

NPEIERS. PNOTO UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D G NITE STATES PATENTPTFIQE Jenno. COPE, or PRI'o s BRANCH, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT m CAR-COUPLINGS.-

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 187,")2,

v I Qctober 26, 1876.

To all whom it 12mg] concern:

Be it known that'I, JOHN C. COPE, of Prices Branch, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Car Self-Couplers; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

The object of this invention is to produce a self -locking car-coupling;and the nature thereof is in constructing a link, which possessescertain features, whereby, when forced or plunged into the draw-head, itwill selfcouple, all of which is dependent upon a certain constructionof the draw-head; also, to

' produce a ready means of operating the same,

so that by the action of a double lever, being a single rod bent up toeither side of the cars, they can be uncoupled from the side or top, ifdesired. The lever may be set, so as to prevent coupling; also, certainmodificatious'in the before-mentioned link, whereby there is provisionmade for the varying heights of cars, all of which is hereinafter morefully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure l is side elevation of my coupler, showing the draw-headsand link in position, coupled; Fig. 2, plan of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, sectionalelevation on line a: a: of Fig. 2; Fig. 4., side elevation of link; Fig.5, side elevation of the diagonal hinged bolt; Fig. 6, side elevation ofthe trip or trigger; Fig. 7, plan of link, with bolts removed; Fig. 8,side elevation of bent link, with diagonal hinged bolts adjustedtherein.

In all the same letters refer to the same parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the construction and operation thereof.

The draw-head A, which is placed between the timbersB, is allowedperpendicular motion, and is provided with springs a, cross-head a, forhorizontal springing motion. The said draw-head, with the sides B, isbolted to the platform, as is usually done. In the front ofsidethe'chamfered sides a? a,

dated February6, 1877; application tiled the draw-he'adis ari'oblongopeniiig, and at the lower part a covered face, c also, to eitherthe upper part has the same chamfer a and the center of this upper partis cut out ataF. This first cut widens after passing back, and forms theshoulders of a The under side of the draw head A is cutout at a for theentrance of the trip or trigger (J. This enters the draw-head throughthe cut-out a and is made to work up and against the connecting-links D,and diagonal drop hinged bolt F, to be hereafter described. To allow forhorizontal motion of the trip or trigger G, the lower endc is slottedout for the square part of the lever E. This consists of a single rodbent at either end and squared up in the center, said center partpassing through the slotted-out part of 0, allowing the free motion ofthe same along the slot, but 'turning or tilting the interior trigger 0when turned.

The link D is a flattened piece of metal, having oblong openings 72. h,and k the opening k being the longest. The ends h of the link aretapered off all four ways. The central part of the link at D is thinnerthan the ends h, or the ends h are thickened up; and in these thickenedends h the oblong openings h h and pins h are placed, into which isinserted the end of the tie F of the diagonal drop-bolt F. This tie isconnected with the bolt F which passes through openings 12?, and

the head F ,Wili0i1 may be round or square, has

the curved-inward faces f, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It will be readilyseen that the same construction of diagonal drop-bolt may be added tothe bent link, as shown by Fig. 8.

In the operation of this invention the cars which it may be desired tocouple are, in the usual manner, run together, and the link D,

being in position and coupled to one car, en-

ters the draw-head, and rises or falls, according to the curvature a,and, the link continuing to enter the draw-head, the diagonal bolt F isthrown up, so that the upper portion passes through the opening a in thetop of same, and upon the link being forced into its position, then thediagonal bolt F falls down, and becomes engaged at the head F againstthe shoulders a" and a", and the bottom of the bolt F is against theshoulders m, which is the back of the curved surface a of the draw-headA. i The oval opening f of the tie F allows -the' full strength of thebolt E to be exerted Should it be desired that the cars runningtogether.should not couple, then the trip 'or trigger O is set upbymeans of the bent rod,

' double lever E, and by the means of the ratch et E upon the side ofthe car, is held in Whatsoever position it may be placed. The cars maybe coupled or uncoupled from the top of the same, or at eithervside;also, there'is sufficient play allowed in the link to permit heavytrains being started by the engines backing up, and;the n drawing themcar by car. By

this appliance, should the cars jump the track,

they become uncoupled by the bolts dropping out. j i

I Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention,What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates,-is

1. A coupling-link, D, for cars, provided witha hinged diagonaldrop-bolt, F, for coupling, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

2. vThe combination of a coupling-link, D,

- having a diagonal drop-bolt, F, for coupling,

and a cut-out draw-head, A, provided with interior trip or trigger (J,bent-rod'lever E,

extending to both sides of the car,-to beheld by a ratchet, E,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

' In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses. I

JOHN (JOWAN COPE.

.Witnesses: l I

JAMES OGDEN, S. M. DOUGHERTY.

